R.I. Gen. Laws
Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 17-20-21 (2026)

Certifying envelopes

✓ current as of July 2026
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The secretary of state shall cause to be prepared and printed and shall furnish with each mail ballot an envelope for sealing up and certifying the ballot when returned. The envelope shall be printed in substantially the following form:

“After marking ballot or ballots, fold and enclose in this envelope and seal it. Certify to statement hereon. Enclose in envelope addressed to board of elections, which must receive the envelope not later than the time prescribed by § 17-18-11 for the closing of polling places on the day of election.”

Date of Election:_________________________________________ City/Town
of:_______________________________________
Certificate of Voter
Print Name of Voter

I swear or affirm, under penalty of perjury, that I am:

• I am a United States citizen;

• I am a resident and qualified voter of the State of Rhode Island;

• I am eligible to cast a mail ballot under the provisions of § 17-20-2; and

• I have not and will not vote elsewhere in this election.

I hereby attest under the pains and penalty of perjury, that the enclosed voted ballot was cast by me, and that the signature or mark on this certifying envelope was made by me.

Voter must sign full name here: _________________________________________

(If unable to sign name because of blindness, disability, or inability to read or write, the voter or their assistant shall mark a box to indicate the voter cannot sign due to blindness, disability, or inability to read or write and include the full name, residence address, signature, and optionally the telephone number and e-mail address, of the person who provided assistance to the voter on the certifying envelope provided by the secretary of state. The representation relating to the voter’s inability to sign shall be made under the pains and penalties of perjury).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases, 1965–2020 · leading case: Roe v. Mobile Cnty. Appointment Bd., 676 So. 2d 1206 (Ala. 1995).
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Roe v. Mobile Cnty. Appointment Bd., 676 So. 2d 1206 (Ala. 1995). “065 (1986) (no notarization or attestation is required, but § 253.080 requires one-tier signature comparison); Pa.”
Griffin v. Burns, 431 F. Supp. 1361 (D.R.I. 1977). “G.L. 17-20-21 (1969 reenact.). 2 . Plaintiffs had made an earlier request for temporary relief in this Court on Friday, April 29.”
Common Cause Rhode Island v. Gorbea, No. 1:20-cv-00318 (D.R.I. July 30, 2020). · cites it 2× “G.L. §§ 17-20-21 and 17-20-23. Rhode Island is one of three states with such a requirement.”
Ball v. Bd. of Elections, 229 A.2d 617 (R.I. 1967). · cites it 2× “The respondents thereupon ruled that all eight 'ballots had been cast in violation of §17-20-12, as amended, and refused to certify them to the local board of canvassers pursuant to §17-20-21, as amended. It further appears that petitioner was a candidate for the office of tax…”
Hart v. Bd. of Elections, 211 A.2d 276 (R.I. 1965). “The other section, §17-20-21 (c) (a), establishes the procedures for processing war, absentee and shut-in ballots by respondent board which is required, among other duties, to ascertain “that the origin or mailing point- of such absentee or shut-in ballot is proper.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.